Son of Mine
by Orange Lantern Tsume
Summary: (WIP) It's hard being Syaoran Li. Your life, a lie to hide a past so dark it would make even sweet Sakura die of fright. Things get worse, of course, when your mother turns out to be Kaho Mitsuki instead of demoness Yelan Li.
1. Son

Son of Mine 

By Blackheart Syaoran 

AUTHOR: Hope this is worth reading to someone out there.  

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Chapter 1: Son 

"Sakura, wasn't Syaoran supposed to be here?" Tomoyo asked, looking from the clock on the wall to her cousin.  

Sakura, busy in the kitchen, didn't stop her endeavors as she answered the question.  "_Hai_, he was.  But he called, and said he needed to go and get some spices he'd seen in the mini-mart at the corner in the center of town, so he'd be a little late."  

Tomoyo nodded, but still felt a little worried.  "Does he have a cell phone?  We could call him and make sure he's okay."  

"No, he doesn't have one.  He says they're a waste of time and money."  

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows, surprised.  "Really?  I'm stunned.  With his family always calling us, I'd have thought he'd opt for one immediately."  

Sakura laughed.  "Actually, it's _because_ his family's always calling him that he changed our number."  

The dark-haired girl gaped at her friend.  "He _did_?"  

"_Hai_."  

Tomoyo blinked.  "That's something.  What kind of calls were they?"  

Sakura paused, putting a finger on her chin as she remembered.  "Well, I don't know what Syaoran's mother talked about, because she always spoke privately with him, and he never said what they spoke of, but his sisters…they were always asking me questions."  

"What kind?"  

"If I liked ghosts and monsters yet, and what my favorite horror movie was.  Oh, and if Syaoran had been acting strange at all lately.  Just weird stuff, basically."  

Tomoyo took on a pensive look.  After a moment of not speaking, Sakura looked at her cousin.  

"Is there something wrong, Tomoyo?"  

"I don't know," the other girl replied.  "For some reason, I'm getting a bad vibe from all this.  I don't understand why, because you're always the one with the visions, and I don't have any magic."  

"Maybe, but I believe that anyone can see something important when they have to."  

Tomoyo smiled.  "That's nice of you to think."  

"Thanks."  

Sighing, Tomoyo looked again to the clock.  "Do you think he'll return in time?  Dinner will be ready soon."  

Sakura smiled.  "Don't worry.  Syaoran hasn't missed dinner once since we started dating.  He'll be here."  

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It was pitch black and pouring cats and dogs when Syaoran Li stepped out of the corner mini-mart.  He had rushed all the way there from Sakura's house—on foot, no less—just so he could pick up a few good spices he'd seen on sale; he wanted tonight's dinner to have a zesty tang, if just for Tomoyo's appreciation.  

_And now I'm going to get soaked to the bone running back_, he thought despondently.  

The young future Li Clan head looked both left and right, hoping for a break in the flowing traffic that he could slip through.  It was no use, though, as every car seemed joined to the one in front of it, forming an endless chain.  

_I'm going to miss dinner if I don't get there soon!_ he thought achingly.  

Abruptly, and to his great surprise, a black sedan stopped right in front of him.  The passenger window rolled down, allowing him to glimpse the driver.  It was a beautiful, serene-looking woman with long, flowing hair the color of cinnamon, which reminded him of— 

"Hop in," the woman invited.  "You look quite miserable standing there in the rain, Syaoran."  

Syaoran blinked, wondering who this person was, when it hit him.  _Kaho Mitsuki.  Kami-sama, she still looks the same_…  

"Don't tell me you prefer the rain, Syaoran," Kaho smiled, and the lock on the door popped up.  

Deciding to accept the offer, the young man of fourteen climbed in, suddenly feeling very out of place in the car, with his being all wet.  Kaho rolled the window back up as she moved along for the green light, turning the heater up a notch.  After a moment of silence, she started talking to him.  

"How are things going for you, Syaoran?"  

"Fine," he answered, hoping she wasn't setting him up for something.  

Another smile.  "That's good.  I hear you and Sakura are a couple now."  

He eyed her suspiciously.  Was she spying on them using magic?  "Yes, we are."  

"I'm happy to hear that.  You didn't seem very friendly at first, Syaoran, but Sakura managed to bring out the real you."  

For a moment, when she had said "the real you," he thought he had detected a hint of something almost like yearning in her voice.  _I'm imagining things_, he assured himself.  _She's just a former teacher who has a spooky habit of keeping secrets_.  

 "How are Toya and Fujitaka doing?  Are they accepting your relationship?  I know Toya can be very bothersome."  

Again, Syaoran eyed the woman.  "They're fine, and you're right, Toya is a _baka_."  

Kaho chuckled.  "You should call him a _gaki_ like he calls you; it will make him really angry."  

Syaoran looked at her, stunned by what she'd said.  "Are you encouraging me to tempt fate, Miss Mitsuki?"  

She smiled at him.  "Please, Syaoran, call me Kaho.  And no, you won't be tempting fate.  Just tell him I said you could."  

"That won't stop him from murdering me."  

"I think it will."  

Another beat of silence.  "Miss—Kaho, what are you doing back in Tomoeda?"  

"Nothing much, to tell you the truth.  I was hoping I'd run into you three again, mostly to reminisce about old times, maybe talk some."  

Syaoran nodded, deciding the answer was good enough for now; besides, he was almost to the street where Kaho would have to turn to reach Sakura's house quickly without taking the long way.  

"Syaoran?" 

"Yes?" 

"I don't believe I ever apologized for all the trouble I caused you children in the past, giving mysterious help but never really telling you much.  If you get the chance before I do, could you tell Sakura and the others I'm sorry?"  

He looked at the hopeful expression she bore, and nodded.  "Of course.  I'll do it tonight, when I get there for dinner.  Uh, you need to make this turn here if you want us to get there quickly."  

Nodding, Kaho turned right, and the sedan rolled down the rain-slicked avenue.  It was only a few minutes drive now.  

"How are your sisters and mother treating you, Syaoran?" Kaho asked, starting a new subject.  

This time, though, Syaoran definitely heard something in her voice: Sorrow.  _But of what?_ he wondered.  _What does she have to feel sorry for about my family?_  

"I'm okay," he told her.  "My mother's been talking to me a lot more than usual lately, and my sisters enjoy speaking with Sakura and Tomoyo, and sometimes Yukito and Toya, but otherwise I'm perfectly good."  

She nodded.  "I believe this is your stop, young man."  

Again, he picked up on something in her tone: Her voice was very faintly cracking.  Inwardly hoping she would get over her troubles, he thanked her for the lift and got out, and put his hand on the door to close it.  

Inside the car, Kaho saw her last chance slipping away.  Abandoning all pretense of casual talk, she said abruptly, "You aren't theirs, Syaoran."  

He froze where he stood, and looked back at her.  She could see, both on his face and in his eyes, total puzzlement.  

"You don't belong with them," she told the boy.  

After a pause, he asked, "What?"  

Kaho put a hand on the passenger seat, indicating that he should sit down.  

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While it raining heavily in Tomoeda, the weather was unnaturally tranquil in Hong Kong, China.  

Yelan Li was staring out the picture window of her office, gazing intently at the deep purple-gray sky.  Midnight blue clouds drifted about, but no storm was forthcoming.  

At least, not a storm made by Mother Nature.  

Turning away from the captivating view, Yelan strode to her desk and sat down, placing her eyes upon a golden bowl with hypnotic designs all over it.  Filling the bowl's interior was a liquid that continuously changed color, though it mostly stayed between purple, black, and green.  

"She's interfering," Yelan said, her voice reaching into the darkness of her office, apparently heard only by herself.  The office, lit only by the glowing, multicolored liquid, was dark and rather foreboding.  The darkness enshrouding much of the room's contents seemed tangible and very thick.  In the dead quiet of the night, creaking floorboards echoed eerily throughout Li Manor.  

And then, as one, four voices, all female, answered, "She is."  

Frowning, Yelan watched as the liquid changed colors again.  This time, the green glowed brightly, while the purple shifted into a similarly glowing fuchsia, and the black disappeared altogether.  

"She needs to be stopped," Yelan said.  

"She does," the females' voices replied.  

Still gazing at the glowing colors of the liquid, Yelan watched as the green and fuchsia began to glow brighter, nearly blinding in their intensity, and then blacked out.  

As darkness fell on her in layers, Yelan looked up slowly from the bowl, staring directly ahead.  There didn't seem to be anyone there, but the gloom was so heavy that human eyes couldn't hope to pierce it.  

"Is Meilin ready?" the head of the Li Clan asked.  

In response, four faces, too close together for comfort, leaned forward, revealing themselves.  Each face belonged to a pretty young woman, namely Yelan's daughters.  

And without warning, the girls' heads began shifting positions, weaving amongst themselves in a defiance of the laws of physics.  It wasn't right, it wasn't _human_… 

"Yes, Mother," the daughters answered.  

"Good," Yelan replied, glancing over her shoulder one last time at the dark liquid.  

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"I don't get it," Sakura said.  "A little late I can understand, but he's been gone for almost an _hour_!"  

"Do you think we should go look for him?" Tomoyo asked.  "He could be in trouble."  

"Syaoran can take care of himself," Sakura said.  "We should at least wait a little bit—"  

The doorbell abruptly rang, causing both fourteen-year-old girls to jump.  Calming themselves, they rushed to see who it was.  

"Syaoran!" Sakura gasped, mostly in relief, but partly in surprise.  

Her boyfriend was soaked heavily, water streaming off his attire even when he was inside her front door.  As he stood there, Sakura and Tomoyo looked him up and down, noting that he looked the worse for wear.  

"Syaoran Li, do you have _any_ idea how _sick_ I was worried about you?" Sakura demanded, a scowl fixed upon her face.  She didn't want to be angry with the boy she loved so much, but he _had_ worried her so.  

Leaning over to Sakura, Tomoyo whispered into her ear, "Sakura, I think something's _wrong_ with him."  

"Eh?" Sakura said, and then actually took a moment to look at Syaoran.  

The Card Mistress was stunned to see how truly feeble Syaoran seemed; it looked as though he was ready to collapse if a feather touched him.  His mouth was slightly open, as though he was staring in amazement at something.  And his eyes… 

_Kami-sama_, Sakura thought with icy dread building in her stomach, _they're so distant.  What happened to him?_  

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked, leaning forward and looking him in the eyes.  "Are you okay?  Do you feel sick?"  

When he didn't answer, she looked to Tomoyo.  The other girl looked very worried about the Chinese boy's state, but could offer no possible explanation.  

"Maybe we should sit him down," she suggested at last.  "And get him out of these wet clothes."  

Nodding, Sakura took Syaoran's hands in her own and led him to the living room.  He moved like his legs were made of lead, which only caused Sakura further worry.  Had he been mugged, or told someone close to him had been hurt?  What had gone wrong?  

She sat him down on the couch, and Tomoyo came over to remove his jacket.  Syaoran didn't even seem to notice.  He simply sat on the couch, staring blankly ahead.  

"Tomoyo, do you think we should call someone?" Sakura asked, looking to her cousin.  "Maybe his family?"  

It happened so fast she gave an outcry: Syaoran snapped to attention, looking right at her.  Sakura, a hand over her speeding heart, eyed him, wondering what indeed was his problem.  

"Syaoran, what is it?" she asked tensely, hoping for a response this time.  

His eyes drifted down to stare at his feet, but he seemed to be recovering from his previous state of being.  

"I saw her," he said faintly.  

"Saw who?" Tomoyo asked, sitting down in the chair next to Sakura.  

"Miss Mitsuki."  

Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged looks, both of them quite surprised.  

"What happened, Syaoran?  What did Miss Mitsuki say to you?" Sakura asked, becoming more worried about her boyfriend.  Thought she always meant well, Kaho Mitsuki tended to be eerie and cryptic, and sometimes even ominous and disturbing.  

This time, Syaoran lifted his eyes to gaze into Sakura's, and she felt her skin crawl.  

"She said that I'm not theirs," he told the girls.  "That I don't belong with them.  She told me that I'm not who I think I am. 

"That I'm not Xiao Lang Li.  

"That I'm Syaoran Mitsuki.  

"That I'm her son."  

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AUTHOR: Hopefully, this interests enough people out there!  

READ N REVIEW! 


	2. Mother

Son of Mine 

By Blackheart Syaoran 

AUTHOR: Thanks for reviewing and sorry for the wait.  

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Chapter 2: Mother 

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Sakura and Tomoyo stared at Syaoran in shock, stunned speechless by what he'd just said.  

_Syaoran_ Mitsuki? Sakura's mind echoed.  _But…how?  I've always thought Syaoran was a member of the Li Clan, and that Yelan Li was his mother.  What's going on here?_  

"Syaoran?" Tomoyo asked, breaking the silence.  "What do you mean, you're her son?  Both Sakura and I have seen proof that you're Yelan Li's son.  How can Miss Mitsuki be your mother?"  

He shook his head, sinking deeply in the couch cushions.  Sakura glanced at her cousin, who nodded, and they both moved forward.  

"Syaoran, we need to get you out of those wet clothes," Tomoyo said, putting a hand on his shoulder.  "You don't want to catch your death of cold."  

Nodding numbly, he let them remove everything except his pants.  Both girls were surprised to see how waterlogged their male friend had become out in the rainstorm.  Dumping his attire in the clothes washer, they quickly gathered some spare garments.  

"Thank Kami-sama that Dad has some of his old shirts here," Sakura breathed.  "I think Toya would burn his stuff if Syaoran ever touched it."  

"Not if Syaoran burned it first," Tomoyo said, and Sakura found herself agreeing; Syaoran _did_ despise Toya very much.  

They returned to the living room and assisted Syaoran in dressing, which was rather hard a chore when he was barely moving.  Still, they managed it, and then tried talking to him some more.  This time, they sat on either side of him, hoping he would react better this way.  

"Syaoran, I think you should start from the beginning," Sakura suggested.  "Where did you meet Miss Mitsuki?  What happened between you?"  

For a long moment, he said nothing, simply staring.  Then— 

"She picked me up, right after I had bought the spices.  I was going to cross the traffic lanes, and she pulled over and offered to give me a ride.  I got in, and she drove me to a corner nearby here.  I was about to come here when she just called out to me."  

"What did she say?" Sakura asked.  

"She said…" he began, but didn't finish.  

"Yes?" Tomoyo prompted.  "Please, Syaoran, you're worrying us."  

But the boy didn't respond to that.  Instead, he merely continued staring at the coffee table, apparently back in his own little world.  

The girls exchanged glances, and Tomoyo jerked her head to indicate the dining room behind her.  Nodding, Sakura followed her as they moved into the other room.  Making sure to keep low voices, they started talking.  

"Sakura, we need to tell somebody about this," Tomoyo said.  

"How?  And more importantly, who?" Sakura replied.  "I can't think of anyone but Eriol who might know about this, and I don't trust him."  

"Why not?  We kind of need all the help we can get here.  Syaoran might be sinking into depression!  People commit _suicide_ while in those states!"  

"I know," the green-eyed girl confessed.  "But this whole thing is giving me the heebie jeebies.  If Miss Mitsuki told Syaoran that he's her son, then we should be looking for her and not someone else."  

"Eriol used to work in secret with Miss Mitsuki, remember?" Tomoyo reminded Sakura.  "She went to England to train him with his magic, after helping us."  

Sakura nodded.  "I haven't forgotten, Tomoyo.  But we should still look for Syaoran's 'mother' above all others."  

"You're right," Tomoyo admitted.  "I'll call my mother and tell her I might not be home for a couple of days.  We don't know how long this could take."  

"I hope not too long, seeing Syaoran the way he is."  

"Do you…think Toya might agree to watch him, if all he'll do is sit there and all?" Tomoyo asked hesitantly.  

"I don't know.  Toya really doesn't like Syaoran, and I don't think he'll care if Syaoran's just suffered a major family event.  I think we should ask Dad."  

"Hey," Tomoyo said, brightening up a little, "if that doesn't work, he can always stay at my place.  My mother wouldn't mind.  In fact, I think she'd insist on it, given what's going on."  

"We'll see.  You just call your place and—"  

The doorbell abruptly rang, making both girls jump slightly.  They glanced at the door and then back into the living room, seeing that Syaoran was still sulking, for lack of a better word.  

"I'll get it," Tomoyo said as it rang again.  Going to the door, she answered it—and audibly gasped.  

"Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, stepping forward.  

The door opened wide, revealing, of all people, Kaho Mitsuki.  She stood there, still regal looking, even in her black trench coat.  

Looking to the raven-haired Daidoji girl, she asked, "May I come in?  I'm fairly sure you girls were going to be looking for me."  She smiled grimly.  "And an explanation."  

Numbly, Sakura nodded, and the older female entered into the foyer.  She removed her coat, unveiling crimson women's business attire in the form of a blouse, jacket, and skirt, with heelless black shoes.  

Turning to Tomoyo, Kaho asked, "Is Syaoran still here?  It's been some time since I dropped him off, and I was hoping to speak to him about earlier."  

"Is it true?" Sakura asked suddenly, unintentionally ignoring the woman's own question.  "What you said to Syaoran?"  

"What did Syaoran say I told him?" Kaho asked in turn.  

"That you were his mother, and that he wasn't Xiao Lang Li," Tomoyo answered.  

"Well, that is true, but you need to hear the whole story."  

"Then tell me," a boy's voice asked, and they all looked to the living room.  Syaoran was now standing, looking directly at Kaho, his usually intense gaze now hollow.  "Tell me everything."  

Looking at the boy, Kaho said, "I intend to."  

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Five minutes later, everyone was seated in the living room.  Kaho was seated on the couch opposite Syaoran's, with Tomoyo and Sakura in armchairs on either side of them both.  Kaho and Syaoran were eyeing each other, each one seemingly waiting for the other to say something.  

"Miss Mitsuki?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence.  "Maybe you should tell Syaoran why you say he's your son and not Yelan Li's."  

"I believe that would indeed be a good place to start, Sakura," the woman responded.  "But it goes back further than me simply being his mother.  It actually starts when I was in my late high school years."  She paused, and sighed heavily.  "I'm not very proud of this, you have to understand."  

"Just tell me," Syaoran said.  "If I'm your son, then I deserve to know."  

Nodding, Kaho continued.  "Somewhere in the middle of my junior year in high school, I stopped being the quiet, shy girl that a lot of guys wanted to get to know, and I started to become a really bad person."  

Sakura gasped.  "You didn't use dark magic or anything, did you?"  

Kaho shook her head.  "No, this was long before I became involved in magic.  But before I go on, do you girls know about intercourse?"  

"You mean sex?" Tomoyo asked.  "We're fourteen, Miss Mitsuki.  We've both had the talk."  

"Thank goodness.  I didn't want to waste too much time on human habits.  Anyway, I started to use sexual appeal to get what I wanted.  I found that it worked very well for me, even if some people thought I wasn't being a good person by doing it.  

"I didn't let that stop me, though; I kept manipulating people with my good looks.  I got to get things I normally wouldn't have gotten; I got to interact with people I never imagined knowing; and, most importantly, I found what I believed to be my true calling.  

"One night, after I had finished up a date with that time's flavor of the week, I decided to take things a step further.  I thought that if I was good at manipulating their desires, I would be incredible at manipulating their very emotions.  That night, I had sex for the very first time.  

"And I became obsessed with it.  I thought it was the greatest thing since life itself, so full of pleasure and power.  You could say I became something of a nymphomaniac, or a slut, whichever you prefer.  From that night until near the end of my senior year, sex was the highest power in existence, and it was all mine."  

"What happened then?" Sakura asked.  "Were you kicked out of school?"  

"I'd been threatened with expulsion so many times before that that I'd probably have requested it.  No, another local slut told me about a big party that was going to be held by some business corporation, and she thought that they might like me to be there.  

"Naturally, I was curious as to why anyone would care about some sex-hungry schoolgirl from Tokyo, but that didn't stop me from attending the party.  Representatives for dozens of different companies attended the little get-together, so of course there were a lot of people there, not to mention a few other tramps.  

"The whole time I was there, I kept wondering what I was supposed to be doing.  No one asked me to dance, or share a meal for that matter.  In fact, I was only allowed to have a few drinks, which were alcoholic.  I knew someone wanted me drunk enough for something big, but I didn't know what.  

"Anyway, after a couple of hours of socializing, the reps and a few others gathered us whores and we all went into a rather nicely decorated room.  What puzzled me was a hole in the floor.  It was like some sort of pit, I guess you could call it, just big enough to fit a person into.  

"It was then that the…'festivities' started.  A bunch of the reps started getting active with the other whores, and it was quickly the same with me.  The whole thing rapidly dissolved into an orgy, with each whore getting as much as she could.  

"As for myself, I was going mad with pleasure.  You have no idea what it was like, but put simply, the sheer amount of sex, the pleasure, everything…it was _intoxicating_.  I crawled my way to the pit, even though half the men were ejaculating on me, and got inside.  When I was having my brains screwed out a moment before, I had realized that the pit was meant for collected juices, and I fully intended to make use of that design.  By the time I got to work, I was up to my shoulders in ejaculate, which is something in itself, because I told you that it could hold someone as big as myself.  

"It took me several minutes, but I managed to satisfy my sexual appetite by eating and bathing in the ejaculate that filled the pit.  The reps seemed to have simmered down from their raunchy entertainment, so they cleaned themselves up and left us whores to ourselves.  

"And that is when I met Syaoran's father, Chen Li.  He was probably the only one who stayed behind, which I remember thinking of as very peculiar, but he offered me a ride to wherever I wanted, and would even give me some money for the services I'd rendered there are the orgy, as long as I gave him my number so that he could contact me later.  

"I did, and he gave me five thousand yen to ride in his limo to my house.  Only a few days after that, I'd gotten a call from him.  He said he wanted me to come to Hong Kong and listen to a proposal of his, and he said he'd pay all expenses—within reason, of course.  I accepted, and when I arrived at the Li Manor in Hong Kong, he told me about his proposition.  

"Basically, he said that his wife, Yelan, wasn't up to the task of bearing a male heir to the Li Clan, so he picked me to do it for her.  Frankly, I was astounded that he had chosen a…well, a bukkake whore over someone better qualified, but he said he had his reasons.  After some persuasion, I said I'd have intercourse with him and produce a male heir for his clan, which seemed to make him rather pleased.  

"What happened after I accepted his offer was the beginning of this whole nightmare.  

"Chen Li and I had sex, and I was successfully impregnated with his seed.  As the fetus grew, I started to have very disturbing dreams where my child would be cut out of me and sacrificed to some unholy devil, while I screamed for my tormentors to not take my baby.  Each night I woke up in a freezing sweat, and I took to wishing that this entire pregnancy would just hurry up and get itself over with.  

"At long last, the ninth month came around, and I gave birth to my son, and I was paid what I was owed.  I went back to Tokyo and began to set myself up as a more respectable person, though I still enjoyed some sexual satisfaction here and there.  

"But things weren't over yet.  I started having more strange dreams, with some man named Clow Reed telling me I needed to help his half-reincarnation prepare a young girl to save the world, and possibly the universe as well.  I didn't believe at first, but then I slowly realized that he was telling me the truth.  

"Clow's spirit told me where in England to meet the people that trained me in my own magic, and you can guess things from there.  In sum, I was trained, I helped Sakura and the rest of you, and then I helped train Eriol so that he could help you.  That's pretty much the whole story."  

There was a silence after she finished that unnerved Sakura deeply.  Her story had been somewhat long, and very graphic.  Then:  

"But that doesn't explain why you're here right now, Miss Mitsuki," Tomoyo pointed out.  

"I'm here because of something that will happen.  Like Sakura, I have visions of the future in my dreams.  Recently, I dreamt that a great evil would threaten us, but that by fighting it everything would be all right."  

"Do you know what this great evil is?" Sakura asked.  

"And does it have anything to do with me?" Syaoran asked.  

Sighing, Kaho answered, "No, I don't know what it is, but I have suspicions.  And yes, I know it has something very much to do with you, Syaoran; I can feel it in my heart."  

"Then he is your son?" Tomoyo asked.  "I find it hard to believe."  

"He is."  

"Wow," Sakura said softly.  "But why didn't you tell us before?"  

"Because I honestly thought you had enough to deal with at the time that I didn't want to risk your lives with something that could wait until later.  But I kept on waiting, lacking the courage to tell my son the truth about his family."  

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Syaoran asked.  "Like if they're all demons or something?"  

"Yelan is, of that I'm sure," Kaho nodded, and the girls gasped in surprise.  "Your father sold several souls to Satan himself in exchange for a bride to help him raise you.  Chen Li inseminated Yelan at the same time he did me, so you could be given the same treatments as Meilin, and at the same time."  

"Treatments?" Syaoran asked, looking confused.  

"After you were born, your father took you to Hong Kong.  Meilin was born shortly afterwards, which allowed his mad plan to begin.  Yelan breastfed the both of you, and, because of her being a demon, her milk was tainted with evil.  Meilin has been completely taken over by both her own evil and Yelan's.  You though, Syaoran, having completely human parents and having only taken in Yelan's milk, were only corrupted by evil to what you used to be like."  

"Before?" Sakura asked.  

"When you first met Syaoran, he was a very cold person, remember?  He was like that since he started being 'trained' by the Li Clan.  He had brief moments of humanity, but for the most part, he was positively ruthless."  

"So that explains it," Syaoran said.  "Why I was always so heartless to others…why I never had any friends except for Meilin…why I…"  

He trailed off, staring at the floor again.  

"Miss Mitsuki," Sakura asked, "do you know what Syaoran's father wanted to do with him?  I don't think he wanted a family."  

"I do know, Sakura.  I told you I had no idea what the 'great evil' was, but I have said I had suspicions.  Those suspicions are that Chen Li wanted Syaoran and Meilin to marry and produce an offspring of considerable evil, which they would probably have used to help them gain power."  

"That makes sense," Tomoyo said.  "The Li Clan elders engaged them, and Meilin never stopped declaring it to everyone at school."  

"Great," Syaoran grumbled.  "My cousin is my half-sister, my mother is a demon, my real mother is a former nymphomaniac, and my seems to want me to father the antichrist."  

Kaho stood and went to her son, sitting next to him.  Putting an arm around his shoulders, she told him seriously, "Syaoran, no matter how terrible things may look, you must always remember that there are people who love you…that your mother loves you…that _I_ love you."  

Syaoran stopped his sulking, looking up into Kaho's eyes, and then, surprisingly, embraced her like the long-lost relative she was.  

"Mother," he said weakly into her arms.  

"There's one last thing you need to see," Kaho told them all.  "Syaoran, this may sound very odd, but I need you to remove your shirt."  

With a puzzled look, he did so, exposing his bare skin.  Kaho took hold off his shoulder and turned him slightly, so as to better show them what she wanted them to see.  

"See here?" she asked, pointing to a spot in the center of Syaoran's left shoulder blade.  

"It looks like a leopard's spot," Tomoyo said.  

"I'll explain that, but as to what this is, it's the Mark of the Beast.  Legends say the ultimate evil will arise on Earth in the form of a panther, which is a kind of leopard, and its minions will be branded with its mark."  

There was a brief pause, and then— 

"I'm branded, with this 'Mark of the Beast'?" Syaoran asked.  "Does that mean I'm going to be one of its minions?"  

Kaho sighed heavily.  "No, Syaoran.  It means you're going to be the Beast."  

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AUTHOR: That's it for now, but more is coming later.  It should be noted that this is NOT a Syaoran-Sakura pairing.  

READ N REVIEW!   


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